Wendell Barnhouse is a nationally-known and respected columnist who has spent over 20 years covering collegiate athletics. He has reported from 25 Final Fours and more than three dozen bowl games and has written about the Big 12 and its schools since the conference's beginning. Barnhouse will be updating the Big 12 Insider on happenings and behind-the-scenes information about the conference.

Seth
Davis, a writer for Sports Illustrated and an in-studio analyst for CBS' NCAA
men's college basketball coverage, wrote this
about Oklahoma State's Marcus Smart:

I suppose
it's a long shot that Smart could win national player of the year, but I could
make a good argument that he is the best player in the country. For evidence,
look no further than the last 10 minutes of play in the Cowboys' 84-79 overtime
victory over Oklahoma on Saturday.

With the
Pokes facing a six-point deficit with five minutes to go in regulation, Smart
hit a three-pointer deep in the corner; dropped in a difficult fadeaway bank
shot; grabbed an offensive rebound off a missed free throw; got fouled on that
rebound and sank two free throws.

That sent
the game into overtime, where he fired a brilliant post feed to Le'Bryan Nash
for a dunk-and-one and then made the defensive play of the game by putting such
a clean block on OU guard Steven Pledger that the refs called a held ball with
the possession arrow facing Oklahoma State. Smart then made two free throws to
seal the win.

In all,
Smart finished with a career-high 28 points to go along with seven rebounds,
four assists and two steals. Last Wednesday, Smart also had 10 points and three
assists in 18 minutes in the Cowboys' blowout win over Texas Tech. Smart's one
weakness is supposed to be outside shooting (he is making just 31.6 percent of
his three-point attempts this season), but last week he sank 4-of-6 from behind
the arc and 11-of-20 overall.

There is no
player in the country who impacts the game in more areas - including leadership
- than this guy.

And Jason King of ESPN.com chimed in
with this about the Oklahoma State freshman:

The Oklahoma State guard might be the most unheralded player in
the country right now. Seriously. The reason might be that on their own, none
of his numbers jumps off the stat line -- he averages 14.4 points, 5.8
rebounds, 4.5 assists and 3.0 steals per game -- but then go back and look at
that list collectively.

He's good at
everything. Offense, defense, scoring and sharing, he is the consummate
individual player and the consummate teammate.

In the victory against
the Sooners, he had 28 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Just another
day at the office. He's also the reason the Cowboys are poised for their first
NCAA tournament bid since 2010.

Oklahoma State has won
seven in a row. In that stretch, Smart is averaging 19.1 points, 6.1 rebounds,
4.3 assists and 3.4 steals.